WTO thresholds for Swiss public procurement: the 2026/2027 table
The thresholds that decide which procurement procedure applies. Federal, cantonal, and sectoral values valid through 31.12.2027, with sources.
Switzerland’s procurement law sets CHF thresholds that decide three things at once: whether a contract must be published on simap.ch, which procurement procedure the buyer must use, and whether the contract falls under the WTO Government Procurement Agreement (GPA). Below the lowest threshold, a buyer can award a contract by direct negotiation. Above the highest, the contract must go through an open or selective procedure and be advertised publicly. The thresholds matter to SMEs because the procedure type and the publication channel decide whether you hear about a contract at all.
This page lists the thresholds valid for the 1.1.2026 to 31.12.2027 cycle, separately for federal and cantonal authorities, with the legal sources.
Valid through 31.12.2027. The Bundesrat refreshes the thresholds biennially per Art. 16 Abs. 1 BöB. The next cycle (2028/2029) will be published in late 2027. Bookmark this page for the 2028 update, or rely on a TenderLift alert.
Unchanged since 2024/2025. The CHF values below did not change versus the previous cycle. If you remember the 2024 numbers, you remember the 2026 numbers.
Federal contracts: Bund (BöB Anhang 4)
For Bund authorities (Bundesverwaltung and units listed in BöB Art. 4), the thresholds are:
| Bereich | Bauleistungen (Gesamtwert) | Lieferungen | Dienstleistungen |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPA, Bundesverwaltung (Art. 4 Abs. 1) | CHF 8’700’000 | CHF 230’000 | CHF 230’000 |
| GPA, Sektoren Wasser/Energie/Verkehr/Telekom | CHF 8’700’000 | CHF 700’000 | CHF 700’000 |
| CH–EU Abkommen (Art. 4 Abs. 2 Bst. f–h, Schienenverkehr/Gas) | CHF 8’000’000 | CHF 640’000 | CHF 640’000 |
| Ausserhalb Staatsvertragsbereich, Einladungsverfahren | bis CHF 300’000 | bis CHF 150’000 | bis CHF 150’000 |
| Ausserhalb Staatsvertragsbereich, freihändig | unter CHF 300’000 | unter CHF 150’000 | unter CHF 150’000 |
Source: BöB Anhang 4 (SR 172.056.1). The consolidated text on fedlex.admin.ch is the only authoritative source. The Anhang explicitly states: “Die Schwellenwerte in Schweizerfranken gelten für die Jahre 2026 und 2027.”
Cantonal contracts: IVöB 2019
Cantonal authorities (Kantone, Gemeinden, kantonale Anstalten) apply the Interkantonale Vereinbarung über das öffentliche Beschaffungswesen 2019 (IVöB 2019). Cantonal GPA thresholds are higher than federal because the cantonal Schedule of the WTO/GPA lists 200’000 SZR (≈ CHF 350’000) versus the federal Schedule’s 130’000 SZR (≈ CHF 230’000).
| Verfahren × Kategorie (Kanton, IVöB 2019) | Bauhauptgewerbe | Baunebengewerbe | Lieferungen | Dienstleistungen |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GPA Staatsvertragsbereich, Kantone/Gemeinden | CHF 8’700’000 | n/a | CHF 350’000 | CHF 350’000 |
| GPA Sektoren (Wasser/Strom/Verkehr/Telekom) | CHF 8’700’000 | n/a | CHF 700’000 | CHF 700’000 |
| Offenes/selektives Verfahren | ab CHF 500’000 | ab CHF 250’000 | ab CHF 250’000 | ab CHF 250’000 |
| Einladungsverfahren | unter CHF 500’000 | unter CHF 250’000 | unter CHF 250’000 | unter CHF 250’000 |
| Freihändiges Verfahren | unter CHF 300’000 | unter CHF 150’000 | unter CHF 150’000 | unter CHF 150’000 |
Sources: IVöB 2019 consolidated text, BPUK Rundschreiben Schwellenwerte 2026/2027, Anhang 1 (Staatsvertragsbereich), Anhang 2 (ausserhalb Staatsvertragsbereich).
A handful of cantons still operate under the older IVöB 2001 because they have not ratified IVöB 2019. The values differ slightly (freihändig Dienstleistungen = CHF 100’000 under IVöB 2001 versus CHF 150’000 under IVöB 2019). Before bidding in a canton you have not bid in before, confirm which regime applies.
What “Gesamtwert” actually means
The figures above refer to the contract value, not the price the bidder quotes. The contract value is calculated under BöB Art. 15 and IVöB Art. 15:
- VAT is excluded from the calculation (Art. 15 Abs. 3).
- For framework agreements, the value is the total of all expected orders over the framework’s duration.
- For contracts with options, the value includes the options at maximum.
- Splitting a single procurement into smaller lots to dodge a threshold is explicitly prohibited (Art. 15 Abs. 2).
In practice, the value the buyer estimates is the value that decides the threshold and the procedure. A buyer that estimates CHF 145’000 for a service contract will run an Einladungsverfahren; an estimate of CHF 155’000 obliges them to publish on simap.ch under an open or selective procedure. A 7% difference in estimate moves the contract between “you probably never hear about it” and “you can bid”.
Why thresholds matter to SMEs
Three practical consequences:
Below the threshold, contracts are not advertised on simap.ch. Einladungsverfahren and freihändige Vergabe go to bidders the buyer already knows. If you are not on the buyer’s shortlist, you are invisible. The strategic implication: SMEs that want sub-threshold work must invest in being known to the buyer, not in monitoring simap.ch. See how SIMAP works and what it does not cover.
At the threshold, the procedure type changes. A contract just above the open-procedure threshold often attracts more competition than one just below. Buyers ran an open call because they had to, and bidders showed up. We looked at how often “public competition” is actually a coin flip and found that procedure type is the strongest predictor of bidder count.
Above the GPA threshold, foreign bidders can enter. A contract above the cantonal GPA threshold (CHF 350’000 for services) is open to bidders from any GPA-member state. Swiss SMEs occasionally meet foreign competitors on these contracts; SMEs in border cantons (BS, GE, TI) see this more often.
How to keep this table current
Save this page; we will refresh it when the 2028/2029 cycle lands in late 2027. If you want the values applied inside a procurement workflow rather than on a wiki page, the TenderLift ingestion does the threshold-vs-procedure check automatically when scoring each notice against your business profile.
Sources checked
- Federal procurement law and threshold annex. Bundesgesetz über das öffentliche Beschaffungswesen (BöB), SR 172.056.1: consolidated text on fedlex.admin.ch, Art. 15–16 + Anhang 4.
- Cantonal IVöB 2019 and thresholds. BPUK IVöB 2019 consolidated text, BPUK Rundschreiben Schwellenwerte 2026/2027, Anhang 1 (Staatsvertragsbereich), Anhang 2 (ausserhalb Staatsvertragsbereich).
- Last reviewed: 28 May 2026. Values are valid through 31.12.2027 and were unchanged from the 2024/2025 cycle.